Rewards Cards: Should I Get the J.P. Morgan Select or the Sapphire Preferred?

Share This Article

In our regular Ask Wendy column, a reader wonders whether the J.P. Morgan Select or the Sapphire Preferred card is better for travel benefits and rewards. Wendy Perrin asks points and miles guru Gary Leff for his opinion.

Question:

“Which credit card is better: the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the J.P. Morgan Select? Both have no transaction fees when traveling internationally. Thoughts? Thanks.”

Drew

Answer:

Drew, because I personally carry the Sapphire Preferred (here’s why) and have never carried the J.P. Morgan Select, and because the two cards are actually very similar—they’re both from Chase; they both cost a $95 annual fee that is waived the first year; they both earn the same type of points (Chase Ultimate Rewards, which transfer to several airline and hotel loyalty programs, listed here); they both earn double points on airfare, hotel, and rental-car charges; and, as you point out, they both charge no foreign-currency-transaction fees—I felt I couldn’t give you as unbiased and in-depth an answer as you deserve, so I turned to credit-card travel-rewards scrutinizer Gary Leff. Gary is co-founder of the frequent-flier community Milepoint, writes the blog View from the Wing, and is a contributor to CondeNastTraveler.com. Here’s his take on the differences between the two cards:

“The major differences are that the Sapphire Preferred card offers better points-earning bonuses (for sign-up and for spending), while the J.P. Morgan Select card offers stronger insurance coverage and comes with an EMV chip that is convenient for European travel.

For a more detailed comparison: The Chase Sapphire Preferred card currently comes with a 40,000-point sign-up bonus after you spend $3,000 on the card within the first three months. The J.P. Morgan Select card doesn’t have a sign-up bonus but awards 25,000 bonus points every year that you spend more than $100,000 on the card.

While both cards earn double points on airfare, hotel, and rental cars, the Sapphire Preferred offers double points on all other travel too (cabs and car services, tolls, etc). The Sapphire Preferred card earns double points on dining as well, and Sapphire Preferred cardmembers receive a 7 percent bonus on all the points they earn each year.

The J.P. Morgan Select card has an EMV chip, which makes it useful internationally—especially in Europe—with merchants unfamiliar with swiping credit cards. It’s 'chip and signature,' so not as useful at unattended kiosks, but still a useful feature for international travelers. Credit cards generally are moving in the direction of having this chip, and Chase also offers it on the British Airways and Hyatt cards, so I expect this will eventually become standard for Sapphire Preferred as well.

The J.P. Morgan card offers stronger insurance coverage, such as primary collision damage waiver on rental cars (if you ding your rental, you may not even need to report it to your own insurance company), whereas Sapphire’s coverage will pick up only those costs that your insurance does not).

I personally prefer Sapphire Preferred. I’ve found using a traditional swipe credit card to work fine in my travels, and I expect the card will get a chip eventually anyway. And the insurance coverages aren’t a strong reason to use J.P. Morgan Select instead of Sapphire Preferred for any spending that I’m not specifically looking for coverage on (I like purchase protection from American Express, and I get primary rental-car collision from my Diners Club card and could get it from United Explorer as well). Sapphire Preferred is certainly going to be more rewarding if you put less than $100,000 a year on the card.”